Barbara Walters chats with Forward Syria
Swaying between art and seduction
Discussing monetary policy with the man in charge
Where the earth screams in horror
07/14/2010 - Issue 41
Congressman Baird: Science Diplomacy can take us far
by Sami Moubayed
Brian Baird first broke into the Syrian press in February 2009, as the first US Congressman to visit Gaza, along with his colleague, Keith Ellison. The two Democrats arrived in the Gaza Strip one month after the Israeli war ended, hoping to see first-hand the destruction wrought by the IDF on Palestinians. Speaking from Gaza back then, Baird said, “The amount of physical destruction and the depth of human suffering is staggering.” The 54-year-old Congressman from Washington State has since been to Gaza three times, most recently in February 2010. Last month however, rather than head to the troubled Strip after the May 31 Israeli raid on the Freedom Flotilla, Baird came to Damascus, along with Congressman Lincoln Davis, for talks with President Bashar al-Assad aimed at pushing Syrian-US relations forward. The visit could not have been timelier coming amidst a storm of media speculation that bilateral relations were not well between both countries, in light of the renewal of sanctions in May, and delay in sending Ambassador Robert Ford to Damascus.
Congressman Baird met with Forward Magazine shortly before his departure on June 3rd, summing up his Damascus visit with two words: “Science diplomacy!”
Braid elaborated on his diplomatic theory saying: “I am currently leading the effort of Science Diplomacy in Congress, that our scientific understanding and exchanges can be part of our diplomatic efforts, and vice-versa. Science transcends political differences. When you go to high tech companies in the US, you see people from China, Palestine, California, Taiwan—it does not matter. Science and technology allow people to see common values and this also applies to decision-making. It is completely neutral to race, gender, and geography.” When asked about the crippling sanctions, imposed by the Bush Administration in 2004, the Congressman noted, “I personally think we need to look at whether this has been a good policy or not and I personally have strong doubts about how effective those sanctions have been. That is part of why I am in Syria. I think scientific exchanges were part of what made progress before and after downfall of the Soviet Union.
There are good minds in this country that we need to be able to tap into, and good minds in ours that Syrians need to tap into.” Once again, Forward stressed how much of an obstacle the “brick wall of sanctions” was to improved relations between the two countries. Braid smiled, “Well I guess the wall is not as hard as you think it to be because we are finding ways to bring people in [through] it. We need to replace the brick wall with a door of friendship. That won’t happen overnight but science diplomacy can get it to happen.”
Braid then went on to explain the different motives behind why he was in Syria. “The reason I am here is to try and understand what this country is all about. I want to get a feel for its community; how you are greeted on the streets, what is the pace of life, what is the temperature! You cannot put a price on how valuable that is. I would rather define countries through their positions as countries, with their rich history, culture, people, art, music, and faith.”
